I think there were some technical problems or something. I posted this chapter yesterday, but when I checked the story today (I always check to make sure everything looks okay and to catch mistakes) I realized that there was no chapter 7. So a bunch of you got notified for a non-update update. Sorry about that!
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Chapter Seven
Edward explains and it's hard for even Izumi to understand.
It was well past midnight, three days later, when Edward flung himself into the guest room, shouting, "Teacher! Teacher!" in crazy excitement. Both Izumi and Sig were up in seconds, the large hulk of a man quickly catching the intruder in a headlock. "Ow, hey! That hurts, that hurts!" Edward complained.
"Sig, darling, don't worry about it. I'm supposed to have a talk with him," the dreadlocked alchemist reassured her husband. Sig gave Edward an affectionate rub on his head before releasing the young blonde. "Now, Edward, since you have so kindly barged in here at this ungodly hour, this better be good." Edward chuckled nervously.
Ten minutes later, Edward sat at the kitchen table while Izumi made herself a cup of coffee and searched the cupboards for some sort of biscuit or treat. Edward had assured her that he wasn't hungry, then promised to explain when she cast him a worried look.
"So," she said as she took a seat at the table, "explain." Edward let out a laugh, and Izumi detected fear. Edward was scared about telling her everything. She sighed. "Edward, don't worry. It'll be fine. Just start wherever you feel comfortable." Edward smiled and fiddled a bit.
"You have no idea what I had to do to get permission to tell you."
"Permission?"
"Well it was more like a bargain. But uh… I guess we should start with what happened with that Father guy… and when he tried to use us as sacrifices to become God or whatever."
"When you-"
"Yeah."Edward cut her off. His fists clenched and Izumi felt like a third hand had clenched around her heart. That day… had been so hard on everyone. Not seeing Edward's almost-obnoxiously golden hair after that day… it was like the sun had fallen from the sky. But that day, it must have been the hardest on Edward. Izumi didn't know the whole story, at least not yet, but she understood that Edward had sacrificed himself for everyone. Well, Izumi figured, knowing firsthand of Edward's relatively simple logic and thinking, that Edward had only consciously saved his friends and family, but in the end, had saved all of Amestris. He had given up everything.
"Well, it was kind of a shot in the dark-"
"Isn't it always?" Izumi raised an eyebrow. Edward giggled childishly, something Izumi had noticed over the past few days, along with other things. Edward had picked up some interesting and weird little habits. She was glad, however, to see some tension ease from his mismatched shoulders.
"Yeah, well… anyway, without me, the guy didn't have a fifth sacrifice, and no one nearby had qualifications to replace me. So things were paused, at least for a little while. That's what I figured. And then I woke up in the Gate."
"Did the Truth take any payment?" Izumi asked quietly. A bolt of fear shot down her spine. Had Edward… given up even more?
"Well, this is where things get kinda strange. We both thought that the Truth was the grinning psycho in front of the Gate." Izumi blinked.
"That… wasn't the Truth?" Edward shook his head.
"He is what's known as the Guardian. He handles the immediate payment for actually arriving at the Gate. And that is supposed to serve as a physical reminder of the sins that were committed. He takes whatever he wants from what he sees. Such as my leg and then arm, and your insides. So we always have something to remind us of what we've done."
They sat in silence for a moment. Izumi was processing the information. "So, if that's not the Truth…"
"The Truth handles Total Payment. Total Payment is the long-term punishment to people who commit ultimate crimes."
"And an example would be…"
"Well, the most obvious for you would be the fact that you cannot have children. That has a far greater emotional and mental impact then losing a few limbs. You were desperate to have a child, and when you attempted human transmutation, the Truth took away one of your most precious hopes." Edward leaned back in his chair and sighed. "As for Al and I, well, we lost our childhood."
"Your childhood…" Izumi repeated. Edward nodded, then chewed his lip for a second, another strange little habit Izumi had noticed earlier during the day. Chewing his lip, biting his nails, running fingers through his hair, and some other tiny quirks, all making the blonde seem years younger than he actually was, both physically and mentally.
"Yeah, well, that's pretty obvious with Al. He didn't get to play with other kids or do other little kid stuff, because of his armor. And, as you know, the military is no place for a kid, so I had to grow up really fast," the blonde explained.
"I'd stay you still have a bit of growing up to do, stupid apprentice. Unless you call your brash, run-in-without-thinking personality that of an adult," Izumi smirked. "And I think you could add a couple inches to your stature as well."
"Hey, I've grown, old lady! I'm like a full foot taller!"
"The full foot of an ant, maybe…" It was so fun to push his buttons.
"I am not short!" Edward leapt out of his chair, shaking his fist. Izumi laughed, and Edward blinked before laughing along with her. It took a few minutes before they calmed down. Edward returned to his seat, still chuckling.
"So, did the Truth decide on a Total Payment for you?"
"Ahh… well, not really. I mean, I guess what happened could be considered a Total Payment, but it wasn't really a punishment. Really, what more can you take from a kid who had already given up pretty much everything?" Edward told her. "Anyway, when I woke up inside the Gate, it was like floating in midair or something. And everything was dark. But then there was this person, who turned out to be the Truth. It was all really confusing, at first. I guess the Truth didn't really know what to do with me. No one had ever transmuted their own soul like I had before."
"So there wasn't any punishment?" Izumi asked. Edward shrugged.
"It might have been a punishment to anyone else. If it had been someone else, they would have probably gone crazy…"
"But you're already crazy," the dreadlocked alchemist spat. Edward giggled in that kiddish way again.
"I suppose you're right," he laughed. "so, the so-called 'punishment', since the Truth didn't know what to do with me, was to stay in the Gate and keep the Truth company." Izumi's eyes widened.
"Keep him company?" Edward nodded.
"Yeah. I guess being in a place like that for so long can be really lonely," the younger alchemist joked. This time Izumi didn't laugh. "It turned out to not be that bad. I think the worst thing about it was that I had access to all kinds of information and knowledge, you know, for alchemy, but alchemy isn't possible inside the gate. It was like being freezing and knowing how to make a fire, but having no material to make a fire with."
"So, you were stuck, with no alchemy, in some dark void with the Truth?"
"Oh, no. Whatever we wanted, you could materialize it out of thin air. Like, seriously, and entire house and furniture and everything. But it wasn't the same. Alchemy… with alchemy, you get that feeling, you know? Like, that hot spark of energy down inside your chest. But in the Gate… no such thing…" Izumi nodded in understanding.
"So, you weren't alone, and you weren't in some dark void of nothing. It wasn't too bad, I suppose…"
"Yeah, pretty much. But you know how much I love all of you guys," Edward grinned. "I missed you guys way too much to be gone forever."
"So the Truth let you come back?" Izumi asked.
"Kind of… Being alone with Truth, I really got to know him, and we got to be really good friends. So… I didn't really want to leave him, you know? 'Cause then he'd be all alone. He has a personality, actually. A really weird one, but still… he's a person. So… we came up with a… solution." Izumi froze. Horrid, horrid "solutions" were popping into her head. None of them were good and Edward was capable of all of them.
"Don't tell me you destroyed the Gate or something?" she blurted. Edward stared at her for a second, then broke into laughter.
"No, nothing like that! That's a little too drastic, even for me, isn't it?" he snickered.
'Not really…' Izumi thought to herself.
"The solution we came up with was… to… kind of… combine our bodies into one."
"Combine…?"
"Well, yeah… Let me explain. The Truth couldn't exactly leave his position in the Gate, right? It's too important. So my physical body was combined with his… non-physical body, and now it's like my body harbors two personalities. It's not fair for me to be here while he's in the Gate, so we take turns. One of us takes control of the Gat while the other gets to be here. And Truth wouldn't be able to be here without a physical body…"
"So… you're the Truth?" Izumi whispered, unable to fully process what Edward was telling her.
"Only part-time, really…" the teen replied, scratching the back of his neck. "And Truth and I can communicate through our minds whenever we want, so neither of us is alone while we're in the Gate…"
"So Truth is… the personality that doesn't talk?" Edward nodded. "Wow… why doesn't he talk?" Izumi asked, not really able to think of anything else to say.
"He actually doesn't know how to. Not yet. He hasn't ever had a physical body, so he sounds really bad when he tries to talk. I help him practice…"
They both sat in silence for a while, Edward lost in his thoughts and Izumi taking in all that had been revealed to her. When Izumi felt the silence becoming awkward, she opened her mouth to speak, but Edward beat her to it.
"You know I couldn't talk for a while when I first got out of the Gate?" he mumbled.
"You couldn't talk either?"
"Nope. We only had to think to communicate in the Gate, and since I hadn't spoken in so long, it took me a good two weeks before I could say the simplest things…"
"When you first got out of the Gate… where were you? Central?"
"Actually, no. I actually ended up in this tiny shack around the southern border of Amestris. We actually used the energy from some alchemist's attempt at human mutation to get out of the Gate. Even though we had to eliminate the guy. He was trying to make an army…"
"You killed him?"
"Killed? No. Eliminated. It's the complete destruction of a soul. When someone dies, they pass on to wherever they're going. When you eliminate someone, they cease to exist…"
"And that only happens to some people?" Edward nodded.
"Yeah. Those with bad intentions. Like trying to create an army to take over the world. Like the humanoid dolls back in Central. Or like… bringing back someone for evil purposes. The motive is always analyzed. You and I had no evil intent. We only wished to bring back someone we loved."
"Oh. I see… You know, you haven't told me why you don't eat…" Izumi said, changing the topic.
"Why I don't… oh. That. Well, in the Gate, I didn't have to eat. Even now, my body doesn't need food to sustain itself. I get energy from transmutations that come through the Gate. I could eat food for enjoyment, but since my body isn't accustomed to it as of yet, eating only makes me sick."
Izumi nodded. It all made sense now. Well, most of it did. Edward yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "Speaking of energy, I'm pretty much out," he laughed. Izumi smiled. "I'm going to go to bed. It's not Truth's turn yet, so I actually get to sleep in my bed tonight." He stood and helped Izumi up as well. He wished her goodnight and turned to head up the stairs, but she caught his wrist. Bright golden eyes looked up at her in question. She then pulled him into a tight hug. It caught him by surprise, but then he relaxed into the embrace.
"I missed you, Edward," she told him. His hold on her tightened.
"I missed you, too, Teacher." When she let him go, he smiled. Really smiled. Smiled that bright, sunshine grin that everyone had missed so dearly. And she knew that he was really back. He son had returned.
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THIS ISN'T THE ENTIRE PLOT! THIS IS LIKE… FOREPLAY! ;]
Wow, sorry for such a long wait. You guys all know how real life is, right? Well, I've just had a lot going on. And I'd be like, "Okay, I'm going to update DYD today." And then it wouldn't happen.
So, sorry for keeping you waiting.
Thanks for all the reviews! =) They're motivation.
.bgirlpaige.
[ RIP LUCAS GIACONELLI ]
